


Big Business

by Xelkyrien



Series: No Stars In The City [1]
Category: Foster's Home For Imaginary Friends
Genre: Alternate Ending, Angst, Bad Decisions, Difficult Decisions, Gen, Human!Bloo, Humans are prejudice against Imaginary Friends, Irreversible Decisions, Legal Drama, Name Changes, Transformation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-30
Updated: 2018-06-30
Packaged: 2019-05-30 19:29:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 12,159
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15103418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xelkyrien/pseuds/Xelkyrien
Summary: Set during "Cookie Dough" after Bloo fired everybody and Mac quit. Bloo uses his money to open a factory and delve into the world of big business, leaving Foster's in the past, but the corporate world is ruled by greedy humans and the Imaginary Friend must choose between his company and who he is. Meanwhile, Mac comes to a realization and searches for his best friend. No Shipping.





	1. Fired

**Author's Note:**

> Crossposted. First Foster's story. I finished writing it completely before i decided to post it. Warning: There will be Human!Bloo and an OC. The story picks up near the end of the episode "Cookie Dough" because i felt the ending they gave it was just sort of tacked on and made very little sense. Really, a single oven would not have been able to create a pillar of flame that destroyed every roof on the building, bloo would not have been the type to do the baking himself anyway, he was selling lemonade at the end to pay for another new roof even though early on in the episode when he bought out Madame Foster's rights he gave her enough money to buy multiple roofs. I also wanted to explore some of the prejudice against Imaginary Friends that is seen in the show pretty low key, hidden in plain sight.
> 
> Also, I wanted Bloo to be the architect of his own misery instead of the standard being disciplined for his behavior and not really learning anything. Instead of trying to teach him a lesson by punishing him this story lets karma do its job to really drive the lesson home so he actually learns something.

Fired.

He had fired everybody. Everybody except his best friend anyway. Or, maybe he should say “best friend” since he up and quit on him too. That left Bloo standing in the Foster’s kitchen alone, surrounded by half finished work. Bowls of cookie dough sat on counters with the stirring spoons still stuck in them, ingredients lay sprawled out across tables, there were even some sheets of dough that still had cookie cutters sitting on them and trays of cookies ready for the oven.

Oven…

The blue blob’s eyes widened and he rushed over to the oven, still on and now leaking smoke, and hastily turned the dials to “off”. He grabbed the oven door handled and flung it open to see if the cookies were ok and was met with a face full of smoke and soot rushing out at him. He stepped back, eyes closed and coughing into one of his arms while he waved the other out in front of him to clear the smoke away. Once completely out of the smoke, he stopped and wiped the soot on his face off on his arm, opening his eyes and glaring at the charred remains of the cookies that had been baking.

Bloo threw his head back and half screamed half groaned in frustration at this turn of events. He couldn’t do this alone! But he had fired everybody…

 _‘Serves them right…’_ he thought to himself. _‘They were lousy at their jobs, always complaining about having to work. I didn’t do anything wrong. It’s their fault._ ’ But now he needed somebody else to do their jobs. He had orders to fill and money to make. He still had Herriman at least, but that rabbit would be just as useless as he was in the kitchen. Who else can bake though…? Bloo lay back on the cold tile floor and stared at the ceiling, trying to think of how he could replace his workers. He had told Eduardo that they “had machines for that”… Hmm… There was an idea. Machines. But somebody would still have to operate those machines. He had exhausted his supply of imaginary friends and real friends. Clearly business and friendship were not a good mix, so all he had to do was find non-friends to do the job. There were plenty of people in the world that were not his friend, plenty he did not even know, granted they were all likely human. That might work out better though.

It was settled then. He was going to get a cookie factory and hire some humans. Bloo picked himself up off the tile and made his way out of the kitchen to Mr. Herriman’s office. The bunny could take care of getting the details worked out. He was the idea man, the charismatic salesman that reeled in the customers, not the guy that does boring paperwork. The little blue blob pushed the door open and strode on into the office saying, “Herriman, my man. I’ve got a little something I need you to take care of. The guys here, they just weren’t cutting it, so I fired them. They took it pretty hard, but that’s business for ya. I’ve decided to move the operation out of the house to some place larger that can made more product so we can make more profit. What I need you to do for me is get us a factory, fully equipped, and hire a whole bunch of humans to do the work. Oh, and we need everything up and running by tonight. The cost isn’t an issue. I’m sure the greatest chairmen in the history of chairmen can get the job done.”

The giant rabbit in question had looked up from his desk when Bloo entered and now cleared his throat, straightening his overcoat and replying, “Certainly, Master Blooregard.” Before setting to work on the task he had been given. A little bit of praise really went a long way and it was surprising how loyal Herriman had become to the “Company Founder” since this venture began, even to the point he had turned Mac away when the boy had come to him complaining about how Bloo was working the friends too hard. As far as Bloo was currently concerned the rabbit was the only decent friend he currently had, and that was saying a lot considering how often they were at odds before this little get rich quick scheme. One thing remained tried and true though: If anybody could complete such an assignment and get things in order in such a short amount of time it would be Mr. Herriman.

“Thanks Mr. H. Keep up the good work.” Bloo told the imaginary rabbit man and gave him a thumbs up before leaving the office to go take care of one other issue he had to tend to. He had been receiving a lot of dirty looks on his way from the kitchen to the office and was receiving even more as he walked the halls. Really, he did not understand what their problems were. Firing them was nothing personal, just business, and as far as he was concerned there was nothing wrong with making them work when they were getting paid for it either. They were all over reacting and it was really starting to annoy him. Maybe they were just jealous of all the cool stuff he had? Selling the cookies had been his idea and he was the one that had gotten the recipe. He earned that stuff fair and square. So what if he didn’t feel like sharing it? If they wanted to hate him, fine. He didn’t need them anyway.

The blue imaginary friend punctuated this thought by picking up the phone and calling a realtor.

“Heeello. What mansions do you have available? One second though, just give me the biggest nicest one ya got.” He started. The man on the other end of the line gave him some details after a bit of clicking could be heard, clearly sorting through his listings to find what the friend had requested, to which Bloo answered, “I’ll take it.”

Once the housing situation was dealt with the little blue blob called the movers and had them take his stuff, literally everything he considered his property, to his new far less humble abode, catching a ride with them there himself. It was just as he had always imagined it would be, an enormous mansion with grand pillars and excessive flourishing detail. As they were pulling up to the building, passing the gate, he could even see a huge fountain out front. It was like a dream come true, and all his. Then the truck stopped and the movers began bringing his things in and placing them at his directions of “Over there. A little to the left. No, your other left.” And so forth.

With everything in place Bloo walked through the many many rooms in his new home, admiring it and declaring, “Its coming along nicely. Bloo, you have outdone yourself. Now, better call Herriman and see if my factory is ready.”

It did not take long for Blooregard to find the phone and dial Foster’s, lounging back in the chair in the room he had designated as his office. Mr. Herriman answered with his usual greeting and Bloo responded with, “Chill, Mr. H. It’s me, Bloo. That factory up and running yet?”

“The workers are there and already have the first batch of cookies finished. We’ve gotten some offers from stores that want to carry our product.” The rabbit assured his employer.

Bloo nodded, “Good. Good. Set up a meeting for tomorrow at my new place to discuss the details with them. We’re moving up in the world, Mr. H. Go buy yourself some of that gourmet carrot juice. You deserve it.”

Everything on track, he hung up the phone and lay back in his chair, kicking his feet up on the desk and lacing his non-existent fingers behind his head. Oh yeah, everything was coming up Bloo. He would show his “friends” that he could do this without them.


	2. Global

“Mr. Kazoo-“ a man in a grey pinstripe suit began, but was interrupted.

“Please, Jameson, I told you, just call me Bloo.” The small blue blob seated at the head of the table told the man in the grey suit, apparently named Jameson. He was only one of a few people in the room. Each individual present was seated around a large oval shaped table and had been going over business propositions for the last few hours. Both Bloo and Mr. Herriman were present, though Bloo had been bored up until the point where the men had started talking about how much money he would make. After a long debate everybody finally came to an agreement on terms and now all that was left was to sign off. Herriman had already looked through the paperwork thoroughly and given the ok that the men were not trying to slip anything in under the radar.

“- Bloo. It was a pleasure doing business with you. Your profits will be deposited directly into your checking account and we’ll be in touch.” Jameson finished, collecting the papers and stowing them in his brief case before standing up, brushing himself off, and exiting the building. The others gave similar sentiments and followed suit, leaving the rabbit and the blob the only ones left in the room.

The reactions at the beginning of the meeting had been mixed, the business men not having expected to be meeting with two imaginary friends. No indication had ever been given that the owner of “Foster’s Famous Cookies” was anything but human. A couple of them had pulled out of the deal then and there, but the others begrudgingly stayed, finding the money making potential too much to turn down even if it meant working with non-humans. For his part, Bloo had not noticed how cold the men were being towards them, too caught up in the potential profits himself, but Herriman had seen such behavior many times and warily double checked everything to make sure there were no underhanded tricks being attempted.

Now, there was a lot more to do before the two imaginary friends could settle down for the day. With that deal an order for several hundred more crates of cookies had to be filled and the factory needed to be informed and given the shipping destinations for those crates. It was not just going to be this city. Foster’s Famous Cookies were now going to be sold in chain stores around the world, so while Herriman returned to Foster’s Bloo called his newly obtained limo.

“Driver, take me to my factory.” He instructed simply and they were off, soon arriving at the cookie factory on the other side of town. Bloo got out and told his driver, “Wait here. I won’t be long.”

The little blue imaginary friend straitened his tie, wearing the suit he could be seen wearing in the painting in Harriman’s office due to the meeting just before, and striding into the factory. His expression grew serious and he crossed his arms behind his back, looking every bit the wealthy business man, aside from being an adorable blue “ghost shaped” imaginary friend. Bloo approached the factory office and let himself in, moving over to the man in the room, not even bothering to greet him before explaining what needed to be done and giving the addresses to ship the crates to once they were finished. He stuck around to walk the aisles and make sure everybody was doing their jobs as he deemed “efficient”. Surprisingly enough, everything was in top form and he could not find anything to complain about. It brought a triumphant smirk to his face. The thought of _‘knew I was right’_ flitted through his mind momentarily before said mind went back to thinking about money and television. With nothing out of order in his factory the imaginary friend return to his limo outside and went home to watch some telly then roll around in his money for a while.

* * *

 

 

“Why am I even still coming here…?” Mac muttered to himself as he skulked through the gate that lead up to the old Victorian house on Wilson way. It had been only yesterday morning that Bloo had fired all of his friends in a fit of rage from their jobs making cookies to sell, after which Mac had promptly quit as well, too angry at his best friend for the way he had been acting. To an eight year old making all their friends work without breaks even though they were paid was unfair. Bloo not sharing the things that he bought was unfair. In Mac’s mind the cookie business was supposed to be fun, not work, and Bloo had turned it into exactly that: work. With the way he was feeling about his friend right now one would have expected him not to come back to Foster’s, but Mac was a good kid with strong morals and a deep sense of loyalty. He had made a promise to visit every day and he would keep that promise. Besides, he had other friends at the home too, and he still cared about Bloo and still considered him his best friend even if he was angry at him for being a big jerk. Bloo was not the only one Mac was angry with though. He was upset with Mr. Harriman as well. The rabbit man, even after everybody had been fired, had still upheld that they were in the wrong, not Bloo. The bunny had insisted that the hard work was good for them and that Bloo, as their boss, had every right to do as he did.

But Bloo was supposed to be their friend, not their boss! Ugh!

The brunette sighed and pushed open the door, expecting his jerky best friend to be waiting in the foyer like usual and Mac was fully prepared to throw him the death glare of his life and give the blue blob the silent treatment until he apologised. A look of surprise crossed his face though when he discovered that Blooregard was, in fact, not just inside the door waiting for him. The boy quirked an eyebrow and looked around for his creation for a moment or two before deciding to go check the room Bloo shared with his other friends to see if maybe he was there instead.

Upon opening the door to the room he spotted Wilt, Eduardo and Coco, but no Bloo. Where else would he be? It is not like he had anywhere else to really go and with the cookie scheme a bust he likely had no money to get himself anywhere anyway, so where was Bloo?

Mac entered the room, glancing around and asking, “Hey guys. Have you seen Bloo? He wasn’t in the foyer when I got here.”

Wilt was the first to look over at him and shake his head, his bad eye shaking on its stalk, “I’m sorry, Mac, but I haven’t seen him since yesterday when he fired us. Ed, have you seen Bloo, by any chance?”

Wilt looked up at Eduardo and the purple beast shook his head as well, “No. I haven’t seen Azul since he yelled at us like a big meanie.”

“Coco?” Wilt then looked to the bird plane plant thing and asked.

She too shook her head and answered, “Coco.”

“Do you want us to help you look for him?” Wilt inquired, turning his attention back to Mac who shook his head.

The boy sighed and sat on the edge of Bloo’s bed saying, “No… No, He’s probably off doing something on his own or maybe he’s still angry at us even though he’s the one who was being a jerk. I don’t think there’s anything to worry about.”

“Co Coco!” Coco said, glaring.

“Yeah, I know… We’re the ones that should be angry at him, but you know Bloo. When I see him I’ll try to talk to him.” Mac sighed again.

“You really should. I’m sorry, Mac, but the way he was acting was not ok.” Wilt told the child.

“Sí! He was muy mal.” Eduardo agreed, nodding.

Mac groaned and allowed himself the lay back on the bed, staring at the bunk above, saying “I know. I know. And I promise I’ll talk to him about it. Right now I’ve really had enough of all this arguing about what happened yesterday. Can we maybe just do something else for a while?”

With that Mac picked himself up and slid down off the bed, making for the door. If they wanted to have some fun instead of sitting around moping and brooding they would follow, and they did. The group made their way out to the back yard to toss a ball around for a while until Mac had to go home.


	3. Spiral

It had been a week since Blooregard Q Kazoo had moved out of Foster’s Home for Imaginary Friends and delved into the world of big business, making a deal to take his products global. With things selling across the world he had needed to open more factories in other countries and had taken on more employees at the corporate level, all of them human. Of course, with more employees at the corporate level the meeting room in his mansion just was not going to cut it anymore. The business needed more space, so he had acquired a skyscraper in the city as their base of operations. Aside from Mr. Herriman, Bloo was the only Imaginary Friend still with Foster’s Famous Cookies.

The money was coming in in troves. Bloo had been able to outfit his entire mansion and hire staff to cook and clean for him. He had outfitted his office at the city building as well and even gotten generous with the employee break room. As far as he was concerned, these humans were hard workers and never complained, so they were much more deserving of luxuries than those slackers he had let go. Firing off his so-called “friends” had been the best decision he had ever made for this company. Business was booming, he was rich and he had everything he had ever wanted. So… why did it feel like something was missing…?

“Mr. Blooregard?” A female voice interrupted his thoughts. He looked up at her and mumbled, “Uh, yeah, what?”

He had forgotten he was in a meeting with his marketing team, having gotten himself lost in his thoughts yet again. He never allowed those thoughts to stray too far from reality, but they managed to get far enough for him to be unaware of what was happening around him. The woman that had spoken pushed up her wire rim glasses with her index finger and sighed, saying, “We were going over the new cookie recipe ideas and require your approval.”

“Sure. What ever.” Bloo shrugged, glancing at the slide that was being projected on the wall in front of him. Different types of cookies were listed on the slide, all of which he enjoyed. Beside, More products equals more money.

“One more thing.” The woman said, pushing up her glasses again and gesturing to a man to shut the projector off, “You need to change your name.”

“What?! Woah. Woah. Woah. Back up there a minute.”  Bloo exclaimed, looking to the human woman incredulously.

The woman frowned and crossed her arms over her chest explaining in a dull tone, “Your name. ‘Blooregard Q. Kazoo’ did poorly in polling. The test group saw it as being too childish to take seriously. Being the founder of this company being taken seriously and presenting a good image is important. You might not be able to do anything about your… unfortunate situation-”

The head of the marketing team paused to allow her eyes to sweep over the Imaginary Friend, trailing up and down as though looking him over and not being at all impressed with what she saw, before continuing, “- but you _can_ change your name to something more suiting of a business owner. Polling ranked ‘Azure’ as the top name on the list of several potential names that we thought of. It sounds vastly more sophisticated than ‘Blue’. “

“I don’t know…” Bloo hesitated, furrowing his brow.

“It would be best for both you and your company to go with this option. You would be astounded by the increase in profit that such a seemingly trivial alteration would have.” The woman assured him.

She had not steered him wrong yet and her advice _had_ certainly increased his riches since he had hired her, but on the other hand… He had been given his name by his creator and best friend. A deep frown found its way to his face at that thought, recalling the last interaction he had had with his “best friend”. His so-called best friend had quit on him and left him.

That settled it.

Blooregard nodded once with some determination and said, “I’ll do it.”

“Good.” The head of his marketing team stated and produced some paperwork, “I had assumed that might be your answer and already had the paperwork filled out. All you have to do is sign.”

* * *

 

 

Mac sat on the edge of his bed, tying his shoes. He sighed, thinking back to last week, the last time he had seen his best friend. He had assumed that Bloo was still upset. He had assumed that the little blob would be back a day or two later with another scheme concocted. He had assumed wrong. Mac kept going to Foster’s every day and expected to see his creation waiting there for him but each day that he arrived and could not find him Mac became more and more worried about his friend. The anger he had felt towards the other still burned inside him, but it was buried underneath concern at this point. Gone was the rage that his other friends had harbored for the little blue Imaginary Friend as well, as they too were worried about him.

A figure blocking the light entering his room from the hall caught Mac’s attention and he looked up to see his mother standing there. The surprised look that had crossed his face returned to the worried, dejected look he had been wearing for the past few days. The short haired woman then made her way into his room and sat next to her son on the bed, looking down at him for a moment before speaking. When she did finally say something the tone of her voice was filled with worry and caring, “Mac, you’ve been so down these last few days. Is something wrong? Did you and Bloo have a fight?”

For a moment Mac’s eyes widened, giving his mother all the answer she really needed. Then she asked, “Do you want to tell me about what happened?”

“I…” Mac started, but trailed off. He needed to talk to somebody and if not his own mother then who could he trust to give him advice? So, the eight year old boy sighed and began explaining again, “It’s just… A few weeks ago Bloo decided to start a business selling cookies to buy Foster’s a new roof but afterwards he wanted to keep selling them to make money so he could buy stuff for himself and got everybody else in on it and it was fun for a while until Bloo started making everybody work really hard and acting like a big bossy jerk. Then he fired everybody and I quit because it just felt like work but Bloo was angry at _us_ and now he’s gone missing.”

To Mac’s shock his mother sighed and shook her head, “Mac, it sounds like Bloo wasn’t entirely at fault in the situation. When you have a business to run it’s a lot of stress and being the boss is never easy, especially when your employees are also your friends. I don’t expect you to understand yet, Mac. You’re only eight years old and these really are adult problems, but when you have a job it’s not always going to be fun. I don’t think Bloo was trying to hurt anybody’s feeling when he fired them, but as the boss he has to make the hard decisions and do what is best for the business even if that means looking like the bad guy. He might have run away because he thought you hated him. When you see him you really should apologise.”

The short haired woman patted her child on the shoulder and stood up, walking out of the room to let him think over her words. He paused and lay back on his bed for a moment, letting it all sink in. Initially he had wanted to be upset with his mum for taking Bloo’s side, but a more mature part of him restrained those feelings while telling him that his mother was an adult and had her own job so she knew what she was talking about. It was hard for him to wrap his head around though. He thought he understood, sort of, but not entirely. At least he understood enough to see that Bloo meant no harm and he should apologise to his Imaginary Friend. With a determined nod Mac got up and walked out of his apartment, heading towards Wilson Way.

* * *

 

 

It was late evening by the time Bloo, no, _Azure_ , got home. To say he was exhausted would be a massive understatement. Who knew that being the head of a company could be so draining? The little blue Imaginary Friend slinked across the foyer in his mansion, not bothering with the lights, and slowly found his way to the living room where he flopped down on his chair and flicked on the telly.

“Stevie!” _Azure_ shouted at the top of his lungs once he had gotten comfortable, summoning his butler. The man was there in an instant, fancy dress shoe heels clicking and coat tails swishing behind him as he moved across the tile floor to stand by the chair, bowing to his employer. _Azure_ looked over at his servant dully and ordered “Bring me some juice” before returning his gaze to the television screen. The sound of polished shoes tapping against the tile echoed through the mostly empty mansion as the butler hurried off again to retrieve a juice box.

Not long after the request was made did the manservant return, setting the box of cranapple juice, straw already stuck in and ready for drinking, on the end table next to the chair in which _Azure_ was lounging. The blue Friend looked up at his butler and asked, an almost pleading tone hidden underneath the uncertainty in his voice, “Hey… Uh, will you play Super Mega Blasteroids 9 with me?”

“That is not in my job description.” The servant informed him, walking away.

“Oh… Ok…” _Azure_ nodded, disappointment and melancholy taking over his features as he cast his gaze to the ground. The blob sighed and looked back to the telly, sinking down further in his plush chair.


	4. Ultimatum

When Azure arrived at the company building it was obvious something was off, both with the little blue Imaginary Friend and the staff in the building itself. A dark cloud seemed to hang over everybody and unfortunately both parties were so engulfed in their own clouds that they did not notice those of the other party’s.

For the last few days the company founder had been showing up earlier than usual and leaving later. He had been scheduling more meetings as well, though he hardly spoke a word throughout many of them. Nobody had really thought much of it at first, but as such behavior persisted and worsened those whose jobs frequently brought them in close proximity to the founder could not help but wonder what was causing the shift. Regrettably even Azure did not truly understand the cause. He knew that he did not like being at home despite the fact that he had all the material possessions he had ever desired and instead preferred to be at his office surrounded by his numerous employees. At the same time he only felt worse being surrounded by his numerous employees. It was like there was a hole inside of him, deep and dark and cold, that he could not seem to fill no matter what he did.

It felt similar to what he had been feeling the first night he spent at Foster’s. He had been missing his best friend and longing to see him again. This new feeling was akin to that longing in certain ways, but completely alien in many others. Azure wished he knew what it was. If he knew he stood a greater chance at fighting it off or fixing it. Even if he could not it would still be nice to have a label on it.

Reaching his office, the blue blob pulled the door open and entered, not bothering to flip the light switch to illuminate the room. He slowly slinked over to his desk, carelessly flopping down on the office chair and looking over the papers scattered about the desktop. Most of it was errant paperwork he needed to organize and sign so his assistant could take it downstairs. Some of it was designs from the marketing team for a new ad that he would need to look over and choose from. The only things still in a neat stack were a few letters. His assistant had probably dropped off his mail earlier. The blue Friend reached over and picked up the letter stack, looking through the mail with disinterest.

“Scam, Scam, Coupon, Scam- Wait. What’s this?” Azure paused, looking at the last envelope left in his hand, the others having found their way to the floor as he carelessly tossed what he deemed as junk mail aside. The letter he was still holding was different from the others. The envelope was of higher quality and was stamped with some kind of official seal he did not recognize. The blob haphazardly tore it open and withdrew the crisply folded paper from within, unfolding it to see what it had to tell him. It read:

“Azure, after receiving several complains in regards to you and your company a legal dispute had been opened, investigated and settled. It was brought to our attention that you are an Imaginary Friend. Being that you are not human you are not protected by this country’s laws and have no human rights. As such you cannot legally own a business in this, or any, country. After much careful deliberation the judge that headed your case decided to give you an option to either become a human being or give up your company, rather than just seizing control of your company away from you. Make your choice within three days’ time and report to your local court house with your decision. Should you decide to give up your company or should you fail to comply with these instructions legal action will be taken against you and your company will be taken.”

All he seemed able to do was stare at the words in disbelief, mouth agape. The letter had been sent to him by the Supreme Court. He had never even been made aware of any complaints or disputes. Did “no human rights” mean he was not even entitled to know when he was being investigated?!

Azure glowered at the parchment and read it over again. This time once he had finished he crumpled up the page and threw it at the wall, shouting in rage as he did so. Then he got up, picked it up and threw it again just for good measure. He went to pick up the wad of parchment once more, raising his arm and pulling it back, getting ready to through the ball of paper at the wall yet again, but then he let his arm drop as his enraged expression slipped back into melancholy and apathy. Azure let the crumpled page drop to the floor and sighed.

All the fight had simply drained out of him as though somebody had pulled a stopper and let it all sink into that dark void inside his heart. Getting angry and throwing paper around was not doing him any good. It certainly would not change anything.

The thought of going over to the court house and kicking the judge in the shin momentarily flitted through his mind, but was quickly sucked into that void along with everything else. Instead he sighed and skulked out of his office towards the elevator. He had three days to make a decision, the gravity of which had not fully impacted him yet.

The blue “sheet ghost” did not stop or pause as he was walking by his assistant’s desk. He simply instructed her to call for his car and informed her that he would be gone for a few days before taking the elevator to the ground floor. As it descended he watched the numbers count down. and down. And down. And further down still. It would just keep falling until it hit rock bottom. At this Azure sighed, thinking _‘You and me both…’_


	5. Choices

Azure lay on his bed staring up at the high ceiling of the room. The chandelier which would usually be casting illumination on the room, causing the hundreds of delicate crystals that it was composed of to twinkle like little stars, was turned off, dark, in favor of the soft glow of the telly. Occasionally the blue blob’s attention would drift to the screen for a moment or two, but each time he would soon look back to the ceiling. A news channel was playing as background noise. So far they had gone over the weather (apparently it was hot in Topeka), discussed the stock market, and gave the traffic report. For a while Azure had occupied himself by slowly repeating what the weatherman said, drawing out each word, but that grew dull as well. Yet still he lay there, trying not to think. It was only when a news story about a “cookie company run by an imaginary friend” came on that his sat up and flicked the telly off. His company was something he did not want to think about right now. If he thought about it then his mind would eventually drift to the decision he had to make.

With a sigh Azure got out of bed and dragged himself down to hall, absently glancing at the various paintings, plant and other décor that he passed by. He did not even _like_ half of these things. He had only bought them because they were expensive and he had the money. It felt like something a rich person would do.

Azure sighed again and continued his journey through the massive building. It was so quiet he could hear himself slinking across the tile floors. There was no noise or people to distract him, so his unwanted thoughts had started creeping back to the forefront of his mind.

That letter. The mere thought of it pissed him off. How could they put him on trial without even telling him?! Of course, _Azure_ was an upstanding business man but _Blooregard Q Kazoo_ had been arrested before. He knew how the system was supposed to work. There was supposed to be due process! He was a _citizen_. He had been created in these United States of America. He was supposed to get advanced notice of trial. He was supposed to get to be there so he could be heard and defend himself. But he was an Imaginary Friend, so apparently he did not have a right to any of that.

The blue Friend glared inwardly at his thoughts and huffed. _No human rights_. That was a load of bologna. He had just as many rights as anybody else. If he could get _arrested_ for _breaking_ the law he should be able to be _protected_ by the law too, but apparently _he_ wasn’t. No Imaginary Friend was.

For a moment he thought back to the first meeting he had held in his mansion. There had been a few men that had walked away outright. Now that he was thinking about it he could remember glimpsing the disgusted looks on their faces at the sight of him before they turned and left. _‘Some had stayed though!_ ’ His thoughts protested, but thinking back he could tell that even though they stayed they had not been happy about it. Even his employees and the staff at his mansion were… cold. distant.

No human rights… Is that why Imaginary Friends were treated so badly? He had never thought about it before. Things were as they were. He had really only ever thought about things that either interested him or involved him so he never questioned it. Kids make imaginary friends for what ever reason; to keep them company, to do their chores, etc.; and then when they did not need or want their Imaginary Friend anymore they abandoned them.

Mac… Mac hadn’t- no, Mac had. After everything they had been through, Mac had finally up and left him. They were supposed to be best friends but… but he had not even bothered to come looking for Azure. It was not even like the blue “sheet ghost” was hiding. His mansion had that gold statue of him with diamond teeth out front atop the fountain in the center of small cul-de-sac that was his driveway. His brand still used the same name they had when Mac had been working with him, Foster’s Famous Cookies, and his name was even printed on the back of every box. The change had been so recent there was bound to be boxes that still had his original name on them. They were being sold internationally too, so he doubted that his former best friend was oblivious to his whereabouts. That could only mean one thing.

 _‘I guess he really does hate me…’_ Azure thought to himself, downcast.

* * *

 

 

Meanwhile, unaware of the inner turmoil going on with his creation Mac was at Foster’s, having explained to his group of friends what his mother had explained to him. They had decided to go out searching for Bloo, starting around Foster’s and making their way down the block. There had been some disagreement on whether they should go left or right and then on which left was left and which left was right.

When the group, consisting of Mac, Wilt, Coco and Eduardo, reached the end of the block Mac stopped and turned to face his three shadows.

“This isn’t working. We’ll never manage to search the entire town before night fall at this rate.” He told them.

Wilts gestured to Mac with a wave of his only hand and suggested, “We could split up and search different parts of town, if that’s ok.”

“Split… up…?” Eduardo squeaked with dread, eyes widening. Mac looked to Eduardo, seeing the big purple monster’s fear, and told the group, “That’s a good idea. It’ll be faster that way. I’ll keep going forward. Wilt, you go down the street to the right. Eduardo, you _and_ Coco can go down the street to the left. We’ll meet up back at Foster’s by sunset.”

Wilt proceeded across the road and down the street to the right while Eduardo nodded, visibly calming now that he knew Coco would be with him, and the two made their way down the left street. Mac then turned around and ran across the road and down the sidewalk.

“Bloo! Blooooo!” The eight year old boy shouted at the top of his lungs as he ran, calling out to his friend in hopes that the blue blob might hear him.

The only answer he received was the wind rustling tree leaves and the dead silence from the all too empty street.

Still, the child pushed on, going further and further across the town, all the while shouting out his friend’s name. The further he got the more people he started to see walking on the street. He had made it to the business district of the town, though this hardly registered to him, at least until he ran into something and then ended up on colliding with the concrete.

He shook his head and looked up to see what he had run into, seeing a man standing there with a couple boxes tucked under one arm and the other arm outstretched towards him, offering him a hand.

“Sorry there, kiddo.” The man apologized.

Mac took the offered hand and was hoisted to his feet saying, “No, it was my fault. I should’ve been paying more attention to where I was going.”

Then the small brunette paused, turning his attention to the boxes that the man was carrying. He had caught a glimpse of them and thought they seemed familiar, but now that he was actually looking at them it was unmistakable, a pink box with blue lettering that read “Foster’s Famous Cookies”.

“Um, excuse me, sir? Where did you get those cookies?” Mac asked the man, surprised and desperate for a lead to follow.

The man gave him a confused look, glancing at the boxes and then back at him before answering, “These? I just got them in the ol’ store over there. My daughter can’t get enough of them. Would you like one?”

“No, thank you. I need to get going.” Mac’s face had lit up, taken over by a big smile, as he turned and ran back towards Foster’s. If Foster’s Famous Cookies were being sold in stores that must mean that the company was still in business. He knew Bloo all too well and knew that he would sooner have let the company die than sell it to somebody else. Mac now knew exactly how to find his best friend.

* * *

 

 

The grass was a deep green and perfectly cut. The sky was grey with heavy clouds and getting darker as afternoon moved into evening and evening moved into night. Rain had started to fall as night came, pattering softly against the window at first but soon coming down in sheets. Azure stood there leaning against the window pane, one arm lying across the sill while the other was being used to prop up his head, cheek resting on his fist. He stared out at the perfectly manicured lawn dully, just as he had been most of the afternoon. He had finished his walk through his house hours ago and taken to simply staring out the window as he continued to think. With all the thinking he had been doing he had finally manage to put a name to the unpleasant emotion he had been feeling: loneliness.

Azure had realized it when he realized that he was sitting there waiting for Mac to show up at three. He was fully aware that the boy was not going to show up, but had found himself waiting anyway, just as he had when he lived at Foster’s. Part of him wanted to believe that his creator was looking for him, that he would find him and Azure would see the boy making his way up the driveway, but as each hour passed that part of him became less and less until it was swallowed by doubt, sorrow, hate and loneliness.

Mac was not coming for him. Wilt, Eduardo and Coco were not coming for him. Frankie and Madame Foster were not coming for him. He only ever saw Herriman in meetings and they were not exactly friends. Azure had no friends. He had nobody. His employees did not even really like him. Maybe things would be better if he were human. They couldn’t really be any worse, right? What did he have to lose?


	6. Changes

“Hello?” a boy’s voice asked as he heard the ringing stop on the other end of the line.

For a moment, there was only silence to be heard. The boy soon started to wonder if anybody was actually there, but soon enough his fears were alleviated when a young woman answered with, “Foster’s Famous Cookies. How may I help you today?”

The boy let out a sigh of relief at hearing the voice yet answered nervously, “Um… I was hoping I could talk to Bloo, the founder. Is he there?”

“Who might I say is calling?” The lady asked.

The boy hesitated for a second, though he was not certain as to why. Perhaps a part of him feared rejection if his friend was still angry at him. Perhaps it was simply because he had not called a business through the 411 and had not actually expected an answer. Either way, he had to push forward for the sake of his friendship with his creation so he replied, “Mac. He’s probably mentioned me. We’re best friends.”

“I can’t say he has.” The response came, spoken in an unimpressed monotone.

“O-oh…” Mac stuttered, “Is he there? C-can I talk to him?”

The woman on the other end of the line sighed before saying, “I’m afraid Mr. Azure isn’t here at the moment. He had to step out for a while.”

 _‘Azure…?’_ The brunette wondered briefly as he continued the conversation, “Do you know when he’ll be back…? Can you have him call me…?”

“Mr. Azure had given no indication as to when he would be returning. I’ll be sure to mention that you called. Have a nice day.” The lady answered flatly and hung up.

Mac put his cell phone away and sighed, sitting back on Bloo’s bed. He highly doubted that that lady would tell Bloo about his call. For all he knew Bloo might not actually have been gone and was just avoiding him.

“Did you find Azul, Señor Mac?” a large furry purple beast asked, leaning over the bunk above the one mac was sitting on so that he could see the boy. Mac shook his head saying, “No. They said he wasn’t there but… I’m not sure…”

It was Wilt’s turn to question him now, “You think Bloo might be avoiding you?”

“I don’t know. Maybe.” Mac nodded. It was like Wilt had read his mind, but then again Mac figured he probably had his doubts written all over his face. The tall Friend sat down next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder to comfort him while saying, “I’m sorry, Mac.”

Coco’s expression shifted in response to the news, becoming determined, and she shook her head. The bird airplane plant thing fixed her gaze on Mac and spouted out, “Co Coco Co Coco. Co Co. Coco Co. Co Coco!”

Mac looked up at the unclassifiable creature in slight surprise at her suggestion. He heard Wilt next to him agreeing with her, “I’m sorry, wait, no, I’m not sorry because that’s a great idea! If Bloo doesn’t want to come to us we’ll go to him.”

Though he did not look up the boy could tell by the creaking he heard that Eduardo was hesitantly nodding in agreement as well. He had to admit, he liked the idea, but what if Bloo really was not there? Well, he guessed he would figure it out when they got that far. For now Mac stood and gave a single nod, face turning from sorrowful to determined as he set forth to go get Frankie in on the plan so she could drive them into the city.

* * *

 

 

Dark.

Damp.

Dreary.

Desolate.

Azure could think of many words to describe the part of the city that he was currently trudging through. At this point he was on the letter D. Next he would think of words that could describe it that started with the letter E, then F and so forth- Anything to distract his mind from the apprehension that was tying his stomach into knots.

After he had made his decision, he had assigned a P.I. to find somebody that could actually do what was seemingly impossible. He had sat by the phone waiting for the call to come to tell him that no such being existed. When the phone had finally rang the answer he had received was one he had never expected. They had found somebody. And that somebody lived right there in the city. It was almost too convenient, like the universe itself was saying that he needed to go through with this.

He had been given the address, which had led him to where he was now: navigating the back alleys of the abandoned section of the city. The entire city block was apparently scheduled for demolition, but the city did not the time or money to actually tear down the building so instead they were simply left there to rot. Oh, and rotting they were. Paint was peeling off of many of the buildings, some had holes in the walls and broken windows. Brinks were missing here and there. The alley he was walking down was littered with potholes, shattered glass, discarded rubbish and puddles of water from a ruptured pipeline.

Thick clouds painted the sky an ominous grey as the little blue Imaginary Friend approached the building he had been searching for and knocked on the rusty metal door. Azure gulped. While he usually seemed fearless and, more often than not, reckless there _were_ things that frightened him. The creepy abandoned veterinary clinic in the dilapidated part of the city combined with everything he had heard about the supposed Imaginary Friend that resided here had him on edge. Even the guy’s _name_ was creepy.

“Is this where I can find ‘The Surgeon’?” he asked.

There was a shrill creaking from inside the building and then the door opened only a crack, a pure white eye staring down at the blue blob from the darkness. A raspy voice interlaced with struggled breathing replied, “This… is he… Have you… come to enlist… my services…”

Azured nodded silently and the door closed again. He thought he might have heard a chain rattle before the door was pulled open all the way with the sound of metal scraping across ceramic tile. The creature it revealed was like something out of a monster movie. It was tall, though not nearly as tall as Wilt, and lanky with mottled skin, the color of a bruise, pulled taut against its boney frame. Stitches ran across its body in various places and if one stared too long they would notice that each piece of flesh was slightly different in coloration, as though they belonged to different individuals. One of its eyes were white and clouded like that of a corpse and the other was mercifully covered by one of those old fashioned head mirrors doctors were stereotypically pictured with affixed crookedly on its head. It worse a long white lab coat with button off to the side and a black belt across its waist. One might expect gloves as well, but there were none. Instead its hands were exposed, tipped with long sharp nails reminiscent of scalpel blades.

Azure wondered if the child that created this monstrosity had been watching Frankenstein when they imagined The Surgeon, and, actually, they had. Though the small blue Imaginary Friend had no way of actually knowing this.

It took him a minute or two to get over the sight before him before Azure managed a slow nod. The abomination stepped to the side, opening the path for the other to enter. It then rasped out, “Come right this way… And we’ll begin…”

With the darkness inside the building staring back at him like some hungry beast preparing to devour his soul Azure took his first step beyond the threshold of the door. Then he gradually proceeded forward until he heard the sound of metal slowly scraping on the cold cracked ceramic tiles that coated much of the floor. He paused at the sound, turning his head to look back at what might be his last glimpse of the world of light that lay only a few feet away yet completely out of reach. Soon enough that light was swallowed by the darkness. There was no turning back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The whole scene where the Surgeon does his work had to be censored out due to the fact the gore would have raised the rating. I plan to write a "Chapter 6.5" and post it separately with a higher rating though, in case anybody was interested in reading it.


	7. Mistakes

It had taken some convincing, but eventually Mac had managed to wear Frankie down and get her to drive Wilt, Eduardo, Coco and himself to the headquarters of Foster’s Famous Cookies. Of course, with such a group there were a few complications along the way. More than one pit stop at various locations were made, so it ended up being afternoon by the time they arrived at the towering multistory building with its familiar logo plastered across a sign out front.

It was clearly making no attempts to be hidden and for but a second Mac wondered why it had taken him so long to find out about it.

As soon as the bus was put into park and the doors opened everybody hastily piled out and ran into the corporate building and into the elevator with Frankie trailing behind at a fast walk. It seemed that at the moment she was the only one with any regard for how people were supposed to act in a place of business. The others had been following Mac. While he usually would show the same respect Frankie was, in this situation his mind was solely focused upon reaching Bloo and had very little room for anything else.

If he knew his best friend as well as he thought he did then his office would be at the top of the building, above everybody else. So, Mac pressed the top floor button in the elevator and impatiently watched the numbers creep higher and higher, tapping his foot the whole way up. With each number the boy’s patience grew thinner but his hopes grew stronger. It had been quite some time since he had seen his creation and he was jittery with anticipation and elation at the prospect.

There was a shrill ding as the machine jerked to a stop and the doors opened to a long room, a corridor really, lined with a few chairs, a few doors and several decorative plants. A big set of double doors beckoned to him from the end of the hall. They practically screamed that this was the office of the company founder. Mac moved to rush over to them but Frankie stopped him, placing a hand on his shoulder. She lead the group over to the desk that was placed just outside the doors to the right where a woman sat, focused intently upon her computer screen.

“Uh, excuse me. Sorry to bother you but is Bloo here?” the redhead asked. The woman at the desk looked up from her screen and merely raised a questioning eyebrow. That was when Wilt, Eduardo and Coco began asking her questions as well.

With everybody else distracted and talking at the same time Mac moved over to the large double doors and pushed them open, running over to the desk at the far end of the dark room…

… only to find that Bloo was not there.

His expression instantly fell from elation to confusion and then to disappointment and sorrow. Bloo really was not here… They came all this way for nothing…

* * *

 

 

The first thing that Azure was aware of was pain.

His entire body ached. Still, he forced his eyes to open, albeit slowly. His eyelids fluttered and he had to fight to keep them open. He felt his face twitch from his efforts.

Next he attempted to form his fingers but found them already present and instead flexing at the given command. That felt weird…

Azure shifted slightly and slowly moved his arms, noting that his movements were not as fluid as they had been before. He lifted his arms, muscles feeling like they were on fire, and brought his hands up where he could see them. His eyes widened at the sight. No longer was he looking at amorphous shiny blue appendages but instead at a pair of normal alabaster human hands with slight olive undertones and long boney fingers. He flexed the fingers on those hands and watched them move. It looked so strange to him, seeing the muscles move and the fingers curl at recognizable joints instead of simply bending and morphing in the most convenient way to accomplish the task they were given.

Next he moved his hand to his face, trying to get an idea of what he actually looked like at this point. Over all his face seemed to have a heart shape and upturned eyes. His fingertips grazed over a well-defined jaw and a pointed chin, something else he had never had before, before they found something soft and sleek. He picked up a strand of it and moved it to where he could see it. It was hair, and it was long and black though in the sharp light of the lamp above the metal slab he was laying on he could make out a blue shine to it.

This was going to take some getting used to.

Another thought then made its way to the forefront of Azure’s mind and he turned his head to look around at the darkness that surrounded the small area of light in which was laying. He could faintly make out the sound of running water somewhere in the building along with the harsh noise of the ancient pipes it flowed through rattling. He heard the water shut off and the pipes creak loudly as they were allowed to rest once more before footsteps, slow heavy footsteps, began to make their way towards him, becoming louder the closer they got. It was clear that what ever was making the footsteps was dragging its feet.

Azure sat up, propping himself up with some difficulty on his arms, palms braced against the cold surface of the metal slab. It was surprisingly arduous a task to accomplish and at this point his muscles were practically screaming at him. He could feel his arms trembling slightly but made every attempt to ignore it, feeling it necessary to be at least sitting up by the time his terrifying host returned to the room. He was not quite sure why exactly though. Azure, no, _Bloo_ had always presented himself as “the most awesome guy in the house” and as a real “adventurer”. He was supposed to be brave and fearless, even when he was not, so he guessed the reason probably stemmed back to how in movies the hero would stand up and face terrifying things or seemingly unstoppable foes without even blinking and sitting up seemed to be the closest thing he could manage right now. Well, he would be guessing that if he actually bothered to think about it, which he did not. He did not really care why.

The Surgeon sauntered into the room regarding the human on the slab with his clouded dead eye, expression unreadable, and merely stated in his raspy voice, “You’re… awake…”

“Uh, yeah.” Azure began but paused for a moment at how hoarse his own voice seemed, like it had not been used in quite some time. How long had he been out? Had he missed his deadline? He cleared his throat and continued with a small nervous laugh, “This has been great and all, really spectacular, but I gotta go. I kinda got some business I need to take care of. Thanks so much for your help.”

“Remember… The warning that I gave you... before I began… There’s no going back to how you had been…” The Surgeon reminded him, though it seemed the former Imaginary Friend was no longer paying attention.

Immediately Azure swung his legs over the side of the side of the metal slab and attempted to stand so he could make a hasty exit… only for legs to give out under him and cause him to fall. Fortunately before he could get too close to the cracked tile floor a long thin arm caught him across the chest and stopped his descent. Instinctively he held on to it for support as it helped him stand. He glared down at his legs for their treasonous behavior.

The owner of the arm breathed out an explanation for him, “Your body… is still new to you… it will take time… for you to be… capable… of using these muscles… that you never had before…”

“Well that’s just great…” the now human teen huffed and rolled his bloo eyes.

* * *

 

 

Mac, Eduardo, Wilt, Coco and Frankie had waited at Bloo’s office for their friend to arrive for a few hours. Afternoon gave way to Late Afternoon and Evening would be approaching not long after. Eventually Frankie had to return to Foster’s which meant that Wilt, Coco and Eduardo would have to as well. She still cared, they all did, but Frankie had a job to do and it was nearing time for her to cook dinner for the house. When she asked if Mac was going back with them he shook his head and told her, “No… I’m going to wait here a little longer. I can call my mom and have her take me home if it gets too late.”

Frankie had nodded and return to Foster’s, though reluctantly, leaving Mac to wait at the cold corporate office on his own. The woman at the desk had tried telling him to go home, but he refused and she could not exactly kick a minor out on the city streets.

So he wait, sitting on Bloo’s desk. An hour became two. Two hours became three. Part of him wanted to believe that his best friend was looking for him, that he would walk through those double doors and find him sitting there on the desk, but as each hour passed that part of him became less and less.

* * *

 

 

By the time Azure arrived at Foster’s Famous Cookies Headquarters the sun was sinking below the horizon and bathing everything in an orange glow as twilight took over the sky to pave the way for night. Despite how creepy he was The Surgeon had actually been a decent guy and helped him get back on his feet, literally. Once he was capable enough he had paid the Imaginary Friend handsomely and called for his driver to take him to the police station to fulfill the last requirement in the ultimatum he had been given. That part had not taken nearly as long as he had dreaded it might. All they had him do was fill out a few pieces of paper and sent him on his way. The majority of the day had been spent solely on learning the mechanics of a body that actually contained bones, muscles, joints and organs and how to make said body work.

Thankfully, those efforts had paid off and he was now exiting his car and standing in front of his company building. He adjusted his red tie nervously and brushed off with dark blue suit, smoothing out any creases in his jacket and slacks. The now-human took one last deep breath before he put on his usual confident expression and waltzed on in the front doors.

He made his way through the lobby to the elevator where he leaned back on the railing for support as it took him to the top floor. He finally let out a breath he had not even realized he had been holding and placed all his weight (all 43 kilograms) on the rail to let his muscles rest a bit. It was a long way up.

Long as it may be, he soon arrived at the top floor. By the time the doors opened he had picked himself up again and brushed himself off again, putting his confident front back up. He had an image to keep, even if it was only his assistant that would be seeing him.

And she did see him as soon as he stepped into the corridor. The woman at the desk quirked a questioning eyebrow at the scrawny young man with long strait blue-black hair that stepped into her domain. The last thing her boss was likely to want was _more_ unwelcomed visitors. This guy could not be more that eighteen.

Well, at least that was better than eight like the other guest.

“Sir? Can I help you?” The assistant asked curtly. The teen turned his cool blue eyes on her and spoke in a voice she recognized, “I’ll be sending a memo to you shortly. I need you to distribute it to the entire staff. And get me a soda.”

“M-Mr.Azure?! What happened to you?!” the woman gasped at the all too familiar voice.

Azure shrugged one shoulder nonchalantly and replied with, “I became human. It’s not _that_ big a deal.” before moving past her desk to the double doors that lead to his office. The woman noticed this and stopped her spluttering long enough to try to warn her boss, “M-Mr.Azure, wait! There’s a-“

But she was too late. The teen had pushed open the office door and froze. His blue eyes widened as his gaze fell on the small individual that was sitting on his desk backlit by sunset glow filtering through the slots in the blinds. Likewise, the eight year old brunette’s eyes widened as well seeing the too human form that entered the office, backlit by the harsh florescent light of the corridor.

Nobody moved. Nobody spoke for what felt like an eternity. A tense silence hung in the space between them, so quiet you could hear their hearts beating in unison, a reminder of a connection that had been severed today.

It was Azure who first broke the silence, staring the boy directly in the eyes and seeing a reflection of what was held his own: longing, confusion, loneliness, hurt, regret, sorrow.

“Mac?” He asked hesitantly, as though uncertain if the child before him was actually there. The boy’s question followed just behind his in a tone that was a perfect echo of his own, “Bloo?”


	8. Goodbye

“Bloo?” The young brunette had asked. Involuntarily the teen in the doorway nodded slowly, almost imperceptibly. Still, the boy caught it.

“What happened to you?” Mac asked his friend, desperate to know what exactly had transpired.

“I-i…” the former Imaginary Friend tried, but his voice trailed off. His eyes were fixed on Mac. So much had happened since the last time he had seen the boy. There had been so much hurt, pain, loneliness… and it had all culminated into a choice that changed his life forever.

The words of The Surgeon echoed in his mind once again, _‘There’s no going back to how you had been…’_

The young man cast his gaze to the floor, a few strands of his raven hair cascading forward to obscure his eyes in their shadow. His tone grew low and quiet as he asked, “Why are you here?”

“What…? Bloo, I-I came to find you!” Mac exclaimed, shaken slightly by the sudden change in his best friend’s demeanor.

“Really? Now?” Azure huffed, a slight bitterness creeping into his voice, “You left me. Alone. Even though you were the only one I didn’t fire. Even though _I’ve_ tried so hard up until that point to stay a part of your life. Why? – Because you were my **best friend**. And what did you do, Mac?  What did _you_ do? You tossed me aside like a box of stale cookies. You said, and I quote, ‘not anymore. I quit.’”

Mac actually winced at the venom in those words combined with the glare the black-haired youth now turned on him, as though the accusation had dealt a physical blow. The eight-year-old’s expression became one of shame and guilt as he spoke, his voice practically oozing apology, “I know… I had been so upset because I’d thought you weren’t treating your friends fairly. I thought you were being a jerk. It took me a while to realize that you weren’t trying to hurt anybody’s feelings and that you were just doing what was right for your business. I’m sorry, Bloo. I really am. Can’t we forget about this and go back to the way things were?”

The glare the former Imaginary Friend was giving his creator shifted into a look of surprise. He had not expected what he just heard. His mind was having difficulty processing it.

When it finally managed to sink in he felt joy and hope flood his heart. He wanted to say yes. He wanted to run over and tackle his creator like he used to when the boy arrived at Foster’s, his way of saying he was happy the boy was visiting. He had been wrong this whole time. Mac _didn’t_ hate him.

A smile touched his face, but the moment was short lived as realization set in. All the joy and hope evaporated like a puddle in the Sahara, replaced by regret.

_‘There’s no going back…’_

He had made a terrible mistake. Azure glanced down at his hands, his human hands. He clenched his fingers into fists so tightly he left crescent-shaped marks in his palm when he finally relaxed them.

It wasn’t fair.

Why was this happening to him?!

First, he lost all his friends. Then he almost lost his company and did everything he could to keep it. And now? Now he was being punished for that too! He had his best friend right in front of him asking for things to return to normal, something he could no longer make happen.

He had made a terrible mistake, and now he had to make another one.

“It’s too late.”  Azure turned his gaze away so he would not have to look Mac in the eye, “There’s no going back. Leave. And don’t come back.”

“But, Bloo, y-you’re my best friend!” Mac protested, eyes widening in shock as he got down off of the desk and took a few steps towards his creation. The young man shot the brunette boy a glare and said sternly, “No.” causing Mac to stop in his tracks.

Azure moved past him to the window, staring out through the slots in the blinds. He didn’t turn to look at his former best friend. If he did then his creator would be able to see the tears that had broken through the floodgates to cascade down his cheeks in a steady stream. He didn’t want to let the other know how hard it was for him to let him go. It needed to be a clean break. Even so, he could not manage to keep all of the hurt, sorrow and remorse from entering his voice, “Not anymore. Just… go home.”

In the reflection of the glass he could see the pain in Mac’s eyes and it caused a pang of guilt in his heart, but he said nothing more. Azure simply watched as the child stood there for a moment, eyes fixed on him, as though he were going to continue to protest, but then the boy turned and made his way out of the office slamming the door behind him and leaving the former Imaginary Friend alone once again.

Azure sighed and leaned back on his desk, watching as the sky outside continued to darken and twilight gave way to night. The lights from the various buildings, billboards and signs illuminated his office through the blind slots, but his gaze was focused only on the sky. It wasn’t like the view from his home or the view from Foster’s. Here the sky was a deep dull blue with only the moon braving its journey through it, utterly alone. A bitter smile touched his lips at the sight and a thought briefly crossed his mind _‘There are no stars in the city…’_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a sequel in the works and plans for a third story that may or may not happen.


	9. Character Sheet: Azure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I wanted to give some info on Human!Blue AKA Azure since there were some things i could not fit into the story itself.

**Name:**   Azure

 **Species:** Human

 **Race:** Eurasian

 **Physical Age:** 18

 **Height:** 152.4 Centimeters (5 Feet)

 **Weight:** 43 Kilograms (94.79877 pounds)

 **Build:** Scrawny/Boney

 **Skin:** Alabaster with slight olive undertones

 **Hair Color:** Blue-Black

 **Hair Length:** Moderately Long, the tips end just below the bottom of the shoulder blades

 **Hair Style:** Straight and loose with nice flow, a left side part and long bangs that are generally swept off to the side but occasionally fall in his face

 **Eye Shape:** Upturned

 **Eye Color:** Blue

 **Nose:** Celestial

 **Mouth:** Cupid’s bow

 **Face shape:** Heart

 **Casual Attire:** a hooded blue t-shirt and black jeans with blue hightops

 **Formal/Business Attire:** Navy blue suit over a white dress shirt with a red tie and black dress shoes.

 **Occupation:** Founder and CEO of Foster’s Famous Cookies

**Image:**

 

 

** Stats, As of Chapter 8 (Purely because I like D&D) **

**Strength:** 5

 **Dexterity:** 13

 **Constitution:** 10

 **Intelligence:** 16

 **Wisdom:** 9

 **Charisma:** 18

 **Level:** 10 (Handler, Rogue sub-class)

 **THAC0:** 16


End file.
